Election Day was a sea of red _ on Democrats,
too

FILE- This Nov. 2, 2010 file photo shows Kentucky Sen.-elect Rand Paul as he
waves to the crowd after addressing supporters at his victory party in Bowling
Green, Ky. Maintaining a longtime tradition, many politicians wore the powerful
color red for their Election Day appearances at the polls, podiums and on TV.
(AP Photo/Ed Reinke, FILE)

FILE- This Nov. 2, 2010 file photo shows Delaware Republican Senate candidate
Christine O'Donnell surrounded by family and supporters while delivering remarks
after conceding the election to opponent Democrat Chris Coons in Dover, Del.
Maintaining a longtime tradition, many politicians wore the powerful color red
for their Election Day appearances at the polls, podiums and on TV. (AP
Photo/Rob Carr, FILE)

FILE- This Nov. 2, 2010 file photo shows Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska,
center, as she speaks with media in Anchorage, Alaska following early election
returns showing write in candidates with a five-percent lead in the vote.
Maintaining a longtime tradition, many politicians wore the powerful color red
for their Election Day appearances at the polls, podiums and on TV. (AP
Photo/Michael Dinneen, FILE)

Of course, we're not talking states or party affiliations here. We're talking
wardrobe.

Maintaining a longtime tradition, many politicians wore the power color red
for their Election Day appearances at the polls, podiums and on TV. And it
wasn't just a nod to the GOP territory expanding on electoral maps. Barbara
Boxer and Andrew Cuomo were among the Democrats in red.

"Red is a very exciting color, physically," says Ellen Evjen, instructor of
color theory at Parsons The New School for Design. And party affiliation aside,
the color makes a much clearer visual statement than Democratic blue, which is a
close cousin of black, she explains.

Evjen also notes the psychological associations with red — passion,
immediacy, urgency and, in Asian cultures, luck. Blue, meanwhile, is seen as
more spiritual.

On the night Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, he wore a red tie
and Michelle Obama wore a mostly red dress by Narciso Rodriguez. But when the
Huffington Post chronicled President Obama's ties during his first 50 days in
office, there were more blue ones than red, 42.5 percent to 30.

Virginia-based image consultant Sandy Dumont says Obama shouldn't wear light
blue ties, in particular, because they carry a message that's too "country
club." She had the same advice for former President George W. Bush.

"Red is an action color. We instinctively go for red for energy, drive and
action," Dumont says. "When people wear red — the people who pass you on the
street or down the hall — they stand taller."

Nancy Reagan made the red power suit her signature as first lady, and Sarah
Palin is often photographed in red, including a red leather jacket worn on the
campaign trail when she was candidate for vice president.

If the "power color" reputation sounds silly, consider a study by two British
anthropologists at the University of Durham who looked at four individual combat
events at the 2004 Olympic Games and found that athletes wearing red gear won
more often. Red seemed to confer a similar advantage in a preliminary analysis
of the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament.

Tuesday night, Paul, the senator-elect from Kentucky, wore a red tie and was
surrounded by a red-clothed clan during his victory speech, while New York
governor-elect Cuomo, who comes from one of the bluest states, also did the
red-tie thing.

"Red ties vs. blue? I'm happy if politicians color coordinate. In reality,
being the best dressed candidate really pales in comparison to being the best
policy candidate," says Democratic consultant Chris Kofinis. "But I guess a nice
tie can't hurt."

The most successful uniform for a man in politics is the combination of a
white shirt, red tie and blue suit, "It's how you move up the ladder," Dumont
says.

For a woman, though, Catherine Moellering, executive vice president of the
Tobe Report, a fashion trend consultancy, says she should put on her
statement-making red suit or at least red accents.

"I don't know a woman who wants to be really strong in a meeting who would
say, 'I'm going to wear my flat shoes and my blue suit,'" Moellering says. "But
if I were going in front of a jury, I'd wear the blue and not red."

___

November 03, 2010 03:40 PM EDT

Copyright 2010, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.